9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Lis
“D aisy.”
I’m startled out of my work to find Spencer leaning on my door frame with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“Excuse me?”
He straightens and walks toward my desk. “Shut up. I’m making deductions. It’s very exciting.” He flashes me a grin and then sits. “You have a tattoo of two flowers on your arm.”
I look down as though I don’t know exactly what he’s talking about.
“I thought one was a lily but today I did a search for Amaryllis. Vic mentioned it’s a flower. When I realized that’s what’s actually on your arm, I started wondering why you would get a tattoo of an amaryllis and a daisy. Then I remembered you said your sister’s name, shortened, is Daze. After that, it was all very simple.”
I bite my lips to keep from smiling.
“And why exactly did you do all this deducting?”
He shrugs. “I was curious. Anyway, about that favour.”
“What favour?”
He stared at me for a long moment. “From the game. You owe me one favour for guessing The Mummy correctly. I owe you one for guessing Firefly . You also have twenty-four hours to guess that quote I said a few minutes ago.”
I blinked at him a few times. “I didn’t—I thought—”
“You thought just because we’re not going to date means you don’t have to pay up?” He smirks at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“What are you doing, Spencer? I thought we agreed.”
He turns serious. “We did. But I figured, just because I can’t date you doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. We work together. We’re going to see a lot of each other. Vic, Derek, and Adalie are my best friends. I’d like to include you in that number. We had a lot of fun together Sunday morning. Let’s just do more of that and, unfortunately, less of Saturday night.”
My heart feels at once happy that I don’t have to let him go, and sad that I can’t have him the way I want. But I’ve made my decision—a decision rooted in logic and past experience—so I push the sadness aside. It was my choice, and I’m not going to change my mind.
“All right. Let’s hear this favour.”
He grins, the glint coming back to his eyes as though he’d just put it on pause.
“You’re off tomorrow, right?”
I nod. I have the next two days off before I work all weekend.
“Me, too,” he says. “I was planning to go for a hike at Lighthouse Park with Derek, but he’s bailed on me. He wants to hang out with some woman or something. Come with me? Keep me company on the hike?”
“I thought you said you hate running.”
He shudders. “I do. But hiking and running are not the same thing. You could bring your little friend.”
“Cerberus?”
He leans forward, placing both hands on my desk. “Your dog’s name is Cerberus? Isn’t he kinda small?”
“He’s a corgi, so yes. And yes, his name is Cerberus.”
He laughs. “I love it. Corgis have pretty short legs. Can he do a hike? Lighthouse is a pretty easy one.”
“He can do Lighthouse. When do you want to go?”
“Oh. I usually take transit. Can you bring him on the bus?”
“I’ll just drive.”
“You live and work Downtown and you have a car? What’s the point?”
I shrug. “Daze, Sophie, and I share it. My and Daze’s parents live in Maple Ridge. So we use it to drive out there. Then sometimes to get groceries and stuff. One car to rule them all.”
He gives me that mischievous smile again. “ Lord of the Rings .”
“What? No. I didn’t mean—”
“You quoted. I guessed. I get another favour.”
“I was quoting the book,” I protest.
He leans forward in his seat, fixing me with his clear blue gaze. I’m locked on it, my heart in my throat as I realize I could happily drown in his eyes forever.
“Tell me the truth, Lis. Have you ever read the books?”
“I read The Hobbit ,” I answer weakly.
“It counts. I win.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “ Dr. Who . I also win.”
Suddenly I notice we’ve both leaned toward each other over my desk and his face is only a few inches from mine. My gaze drops to his lips and my pulse races. How did I get here? What am I doing?
I sit back, slowly, so as not to appear to be running.
“So tomorrow. I can pick you up. What time?”
He clears his throat as he sits back, the mischief gone. I wonder if he’s as affected as I am.
“Nine? We’d get there by ten. The hike takes a couple hours. Then we can come back, eat lunch, and watch The Dark Crystal .”
“That sounds like a date.”
“Nope.” He stands. “Just two friends. Hanging out on a day off. I’ve got popcorn.”
I raise an eyebrow. “If you’re inviting me over to watch a movie, you better have popcorn.”
His laughter floats back to me as he walks away, and it takes me much longer than it should to focus again on my tasks. I have a lot to do to get ready for a day off.
A couple hours later, Vic enters my office.
“You did great today,” she says, sitting across from me.
“Thanks. It was fun. The catering company I worked for last had a lot of corporate clients, so this was the kind of thing I’m used to. And Tina’s ready to take over for the next couple days.”
“Excellent. I knew you’d have no trouble jumping in.” She sighs. “I just wish Mark had given me more time. I lost an event last week because of him leaving so quickly.”
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shrugs. “Business. You have everything you need for the rehearsal dinner and wedding this weekend?”
I nod and motion to my computer. “I’ve been going over everything. It all looks doable. I checked the stock and it’s all there. So we’re looking good.”
“Excellent. You getting out of here?”
“Yeah. I was just closing up.” I motion to my computer.
“Cool. I’ll walk out with you and lock up.” We gather our things and start toward the door. “Got any plans for tomorrow?” she asks.
“Uh. Yeah. I’m going for a hike with Spencer.”
“How did he rope you into that?”
I laugh. “I don’t mind hiking. And I’m bringing Cerberus, who’s going to be in heaven.”
“Cerberus?”
“My corgi.”
Vic laughs this time as she locks the door behind us. “Cerberus the corgi. That’s awesome. Do you take transit home?”
“If it’s raining, I might. But it’s still nice, so I’ll walk. I usually walk along the Seawall.”
“Do you mind if I walk with you?”
“Sure.”
So we cross the street and walk, chatting about things we love in Vancouver like being so close to the beach, the restaurants, and the ease of getting around.
“Have you always lived in the city?” I ask as we near her apartment.
“Not always Downtown. But Spencer and I grew up in Point Grey.”
I miss my next step and stumble before I catch myself. “Point Grey. As in the most expensive part of Vancouver?”
“One and the same.”
“You and Spencer grew up there.”
“Yeah. Our parents are friends. Or were… before…” She shakes her head. “Anyway. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
Since before what? I want to scream. But it’s none of my business. Just because I crave every scrap of information about Spencer doesn’t mean I’m entitled to any of it. Besides, it might not have anything to do with him. Whatever she said had been about their parents.
I still want to know.
Then we’re at her building and she waves to me as she goes inside. I stand there for a moment, looking up at the third-floor windows on one side of the building, wondering if he’s there, looking down at me.
Then I shake my head and keep walking.